what diet methods have worked for you??

only two replies that dont like to call it dieting?.. how dissapointing .. I was expecting this post to be alot longer already.
However, I do agree. along with what everyone else has said

I'll let you in on a secret. When I was 27 I had my gallbladder removed and freaked and started eating ultra-low-fat and vegetarian.

I went from 263 lbs to 180 lbs in less than a year. I maintained for almost 2 years and then started eating meat and didn't keep my calories from fat under 10% and didn't know how to eat like a normal person got depressed and stopped going to the gym and put most of it back.

When I was 34 I weighed 241 lbs. I started doing SouthBeach I got down to 163lbs in about a year and kept it mostly off for about 3 years. It's not low carb, it's not low fat and even now I take a fair amount of it's tenants to heart. However, my mom's health took a bad turn and I stopped caring about my health and what I ate and at age 41 I found myself at 241 lbs again.

Things have changed this time around. I am maintaining a caloric deficit and hitting my marcos, and I'm seriously enjoying my activity and not doing it because I have to, always before at any time going to the gym or whatever was a chore not a joy.

I have been lowering my caloric deficit over the last 2-3 months. I am about to add another 250 calories a day back in and then the other 250 (to no deficit) when I hit goal.

I have chosen not to eat one and only one type of food. Potato chips in my tunafish sandwiches. Thats it, nothing else. I don't need cheat days, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. If I want to eat something that might not be on plan I don't have a lot of it and I put in extra time/miles at the gym/running to make up for it.

But getting 30 mintues a day of exercise (sometime more, never less) has made me FEEL better and it's gotten easier in the last year.

But I am not ON a diet, my nutritional goals are dictated by my activity level and fitness needs.

My bloodwork and everything else checked at my physical came back as "spot on" according to my doctor. That was 6 months ago and something like 40 pounds ago.

I am at normal weight and a mere 11 pounds from my goal (it's probably 10 but I'm not due to get on the scale until tomorrow)

But in addition to tracking what I'm eating, I have a heart rate monitor to measure my calorie burn, when you start exercising, if you havent already, it's super handy to have because most other methods of tracking your burn are giving false numbers.

A combination of the following:

Portion control and moderation
Finding exercise I enjoyed and actually looked forward to
Challenging myself at doing things I'd never done
Eating cleaner. Healthier. More colorful fruits and veggies.
Buying a HRM to accurately calculate calories burned
Not restricting myself of anything. Eating what I want... just less of it

Calories in < calories out

1.) weighing and measuring all of my food
2.) logging all of my caloric intake as accurately as possible, every single day
3.) eating between my BMR and TDEE (~ 20% of my TDEE)
4.) making more nutritious food choices and managing my macronutrients
5.) exercising for fitness, not for weight loss

All this and the right mindset, if you want it bad enough, you will make it happen!

burning off more calories than i consumed